Did you try the post-game arcade mode?  I only dabbled, but as it had leaderboards I assume it's a set 'seed' or whatever a specific rogue run is known as.  Might be worth a look.

It's an absolute joy to play.

It played well but it wasn't very interesting.  You couldn't form alliances by buttonholing the baddies for a start.

...

So, announcement:

I don't have many comments about GOTD votes - only 4 people wrote stuff. And I'd like the higher scoring entries to all have some nice comments about why people voted for them.

So I'm going to PM some of the regulars who voted for some of the higher scoring games and ask if they could quickly write a little bit. Could be just a sentence or two. And no pressure at all - if you don't have time or just don't want to do it, no worries.

I can pen a haiku or two

Whoa, just checked out the opening post.
Fine work JB!

GOTD results coming from around 8pm today.

If you're planning to send me any more writeups, it'd be good if you could do it before then.

Right, I'll get started. 

Obviously I've decided to milk this because it's the end of a decade, so bear with me for a series of posts. Feel free to comment at any time of course.

I decided to add comments to the top 20 games of the decade, so thanks to everyone who pitched in at the last minute to write something. I did still get it a bit wrong, so some games have ended up with more comments than others, but they've all got at least something.

Other than that, here's how I did the scoring:
1st place vote = 15 pts
2nd = 12
3rd = 10
4th = 9
5th = 8
6th= 7
7th = 6
8th = 5
9th = 4
10th = 3

147 different games were voted for. Plenty with just the one vote, so let's start at that end first...

Points scored are shown on the left of each title.

96-147
7              Alien: Isolation
7              Dead Cells
7              Dirt Rally
7              Firewatch
7              The Golf Club
7              Just Cause 2
7              Mario Maker
7              Obduction
7              The Outer Wilds
7              Ratchet and Clank
7              Thumper
6              Armello
6              Hitman
6              Neo Scavenger
6              Pikmin 3
6              Resogun
6              Super Hot
6              The Evil Within
6              The Walking Dead
6              Torchlight 2
6              Sekiro
5              Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
5              Astro Bot
5              Cities Skylines
5              Civilization V
5              Darksiders
5              Disco Elysium
5              Don't Starve Together
5              Dragon Quest IX
5              Proteus
5              Spec Ops: The Line
5              Uncharted 3
4              Abzu
4              Control
4              Dying Light
4              Forza Horizon 4
4              FTL
4              Halo: Reach
4              Mad Max
4              Sin and Punishment 2
4              Totally Accurate Battle Simulator
3              Arms
3              Bastion
3              Beat Sneak Bandit
3              Bravely Default
3              Diablo 3
3              Far Cry 3
3              Fire Emblem: Fates
3              Forza Horizon 3
3              Life Is Strange
3              Limbo
3              Metro 2033

31-48
18           Journey
18           Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
18           Marvel’s Spider-Man
17           Dead Space 2
16           Driveclub
16           Splatoon 2
16           Titanfall 2
16           Vanquish
15           Mario Kart 8
15           Uncharted 4
15           Borderlands 2
15           Darkest Dungeon
15           Kingdom Come Deliverance
15           Noita
15           Sea of Thieves
14           No Man's Sky
13           Animal Crossing New Leaf
13           Battlefield: Bad Company 2

Time for some bigger posts now. Bear with me while I get the formatting right.

In joint 19th place:

25 Yakuza 0




What you said:

Vela: “I first became aware of Yakuza 0 about ~150 hours into BOTW. I had the first game on ps2 but got stuck early on and then distracted by xbox live/pgr2.

It takes a lot to distract me from the best game I've ever played but Y0 is ridiculously good too. The first impression of the game is a low-fi, non animated text "cut scene" that screams B-grade (read: niche, low budget). Not long after you are fighting in a bathroom of a yakuza hq tower and start to get a taste of the battle system and music.

I think it's around chapter 6 or 7 when you start to piece together the characters and the story and then comes a very entertaining run through the streets towards a safe house and safety in the sewers.

Which brings me to the music. Anyone who knows this game and the name Kuze probably still has this track in their head. For those who don't, here is what you are missing.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hl9LWEej-I

I think it's about thirty or forty hours in when you start to play the hostess game (my wife loved this bit) start to amass a healthy property portfolio, beat a couple of shakedown men and see some ridiculous side stories about bdsm, stolen underwear, cults and Mr libido.

I am neglecting something pretty big here, however. Namely, half the game.

Majima.

Goro Majima is the life and soul of this game. His introduction is poetry, his quest is far darker than Kiryu's but his attitude is infectious. "Slow your roll" has become a catchphrase in our home.

The game is full of memorable characters, Tachibana, Nishikiyama, Kuze and Makoto all-star in some phenomenal set pieces as the story moves towards a truly satisfying climax.

BOTW and Mario Galaxy 2 were my top 2 in GOTD voting, but this is functionally equivalent.”

regmcfly: “With Yakuza 0, Team Ryu finally embraced the surreal, the sublime and the ridiculous, enabling full blown homoerotic fan service and side quests that required you to subtly steal porno mags. Wrapped up in the 80s boom aesthetic of Tokyo, it's an homage to Sega's history, the lunacy of the Yakuza series, and also its own beast.”

hunk: “This game feels like a laser focussed Shenmue with all the fat trimmed and a Yakuza gangsta swapped for the main protagonist. But not just any gangsta, this is one with a heart of pure solid 24k gold and fists of steel. And an incredible sense of humour John Cleese would approve of. Some of the side quests will have you in stitches. Sega at its finest.”

25 Total War: Warhammer 2



What you said:

Tempy: “Just as Games Workshop were killing of Fantasy Battles in their hobby, they were handing stewardship of the world over to Creative Assembly. What better studio to handle the creation of a rank and file combat game set in a world exquisitely mapped out over timelines and maps? The sidestep from Real World History to Fantasy History suited them just fine, and there was finally a system that captured Warhammer’s grandiose battles in a way that was affordable.

Legendary Lords lived up to their name as they were able to cut down hundreds of opponents and turn entire tides of battle with a charge or a spell, and magic itself changed the game greatly. Whilst the first Warhammer title was excellent, Warhammer 2 excelled by introducing more exotic factions - the duplicitous Skaven, the stoic Lizardmen, the regal High Elves and the sadistic Dark Elves all battle it out over the Vortex - a conflux of magical power that holds the fate of the Old world in the balance. A more targeted campaign than any of the previous Total War games, it forces you along and keeps you engaged with routine objectives and rivalries. Each faction manages to tweak a handful of core mechanics to feel different to play on both campaign map and battle map; the rapid expansion of the skaven is hampered by a need for food, and on the map they use a surplus of slaves to hold their enemies in place whilst monsters and experimental weaponry rack up the kills, whilst the High Elves engage themselves in internal politicking on Ulthuan and go to war with small numbers of elite infantry that excel at ranged combat.

Building on the ambition of its predecessor, Warhammer 2 stitched both maps together to create the mind boggling Mortal Empires campaign, and then stuffed its faction select screen full of Legendary Lords who all change their baseline factions. Bored of Dark Elves? Play as Lorkhir Fellheart and raid the coasts of Lustria from your fleet of Black Arks. Tired of grinding away with corruption and slave spam as Skaven? Take Ikit Claw for a spin and build armies of chaotic warmachines that are upgraded from a new laboratory feature which also lets you build nuclear weapons you can drop on armies in battle to delete entire flanks.

The love of the lore is represented in every feature, from daft quotes to cutting references to events and items, and the best part is that everything added to the game as DLC is free to play against - no need to drop £15 to see what the tomb kings look like in all their dust covered regality, they’ll be knocking at your door in every campaign from now on.

Whilst it’s a niche case, it really is the best adaptation of any intellectual property I can think of. It takes a slice of fictional history and preserves it in amber, and lets you play out the triumphs and treacheries of the Warhammer world in glorious detail. Games are often called love letters, but rare is an epistle penned as beautifully as this one.”

GurtTractor: “Total Warhammer 2 is fantastic, one of the games of the decade for sure. Easily the most approachable Total War, good UI design, relatively fast moving strategy and tons of brutal battles. A great reason to get into PC gaming, the visual spectacle is something else.”

In 17th place:

28 Batman: Arkham City



What you said:

hunk: “Batman unleashed from the asylum. The fantastic battle system returns but now with a whole new city to explore and a new batch of crazy Batman villains. The Riddler riddles were a bit obscure but most of the game's challenges are doable. If you liked asylum you will love City.”

End of page?